The Favor of God

// October 8th, 2007 // Christian Living, Sunday Recap

JosephJoseph was Daddy’s favorite. He got the special coat that made him look like royalty. He didn’t have to work in the field like his brothers, but he did get to supervise them. He was set to inherit the lion’s share of Daddy’s estate, and was the envy of his 11 brothers. Life was good and life was simple for Joseph. Until God called him.

Joseph had two dreams, both declaring that his brothers and parents would one day bow down to him. Joseph was obviously a little cocky, and shared the dreams with a little bit of a smug and superior attitude. This was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back with his brothers. The envy in their hearts had already been festering for years. The ultimate expression of envy is murder, and sure enough that is exactly what they conspired to do.

Reuben intervened and convinced them to just toss him in a pit. (Gee, thanks Reuben.) Then, seeing opportunity knocking for them, the boys sold Joseph to slave traders on their way to Egypt. They tore his coat and covered it in goat’s blood to convince their poor father that Joseph had been maimed and killed by a wild animal. So while Joseph rode the dusty caravan to Egypt as a betrayed Hebrew slave, his father lay weeping in sackcloth and ashes mourning his death.

There’s no point in me retelling the entire story here. You can read it yourself in the last half of the book of Genesis.

But. the next few years of Joseph’s life went something like this:

  1. becomes a slave in Potiphar’s house
  2. does so well, Poitphar puts him in charge of everything he owns
  3. Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of trying to rape her.
  4. Potiphar throws Joseph in jail, where Joseph is soon put in charge of everything in the prison.
  5. Joseph interprets the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s officers. The dreams come true, one of the officers returns to Pharaoh promising Joseph he will get him out.
  6. Joseph sits in prison for two more years before he is remembered.
  7. Joseph interprets Pharoah’s 2 dreams about 7 years of plenty, then 7 years of famine resulting in Pharaoh putting him in charge of all the financial matters in the land.
  8. Joseph’s family is forced to come to him in Egypt to find grain. They are restored and Joseph provides for them and their families until his death. – (his calling fulfilled)

Conclusions and Observations

Often when people talk about Joseph’s life they talk about how no matter where Joseph was, he prospered. And that this is the favor of God. The idea being that in my job, at school, at home, etc God will promote me even when circumstances don’t necessarily warrant it.

All of this is true. But what about when this doesn’t happen? What about when you don’t get promoted, but rather you get laid off and the incompetent slacker-gossiper-long-lunch-taker gets promoted? What about when Joseph was betrayed by his brothers? What about when he got thrown into prison for doing the right thing? (Wouldn’t he have avoided prison had he only succumbed to Potiphar’s wife’s seduction?) What about Pharaoh’s cup bearer who forgot about Joseph for two years? Couldn’t God have reminded him any time? Where does the favor of God fit in to all that?

I think the favor of God is more than “good things happening because of God’s intervention”. I think the favor of God is God sovereignly causing our calling and destiny to express itself no matter where we are. You see, Joseph was called to oversee. Everywhere he landed, that is what happened. And all of the tragedy and betrayal was designed by God to bring Joseph to the place where he could do what God had ultimately called him to do for his family.

Joseph didn’t just have a dream. The dream had him. Joseph was not in control of his destiny, God was. All Joseph had to do was pass his tests by not getting bitter when he was betrayed, and obeying God in the small things. But, all of it started with the dream. It started with God-sized vision.

Do you have vision for your own life? Is it man sized, or God sized? When the favor of God expresses itself in betrayal what will you say?

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